Joan Rivers Refuses to Apologize for Making Heidi Klum Holocaust Joke

March 1, 2013 (8:04 am) GMT

Rivers reveals that the members of her husband's family died in Holocaust, and the joke is her way to make the incident remembered.

Joan Rivers was under fire because of a joke about Heidi Klum and Holocaust she made on "Fashion Police" on Monday, February 25. However, the comedian, who was also a Jewish, refused to apologize. She claimed that making jokes from Holocaust was her way to make the incident remembered.

Rivers told HLN's "Showbiz Tonight", "It's a joke No. 1. No. 2 it is about the Holocaust. This is the way I remind people about the Holocaust. I do it through humor." She added, "My husband lost the majority of his family at Auschwitz, and I can assure you that I have always made it a point to remind people of the Holocaust through humor."

Heidi Klum went to Elton John's AIDS Foundation Academy Awards party wearing a dress which revealed her sexy figure. Rivers commented on the model's sexy backside, saying that "the last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens."

Abraham Foxman from The Anti-Defamation League commented that the joke Rivers made was "vulgar and offensive to Jews and Holocaust survivors." He stated, "There are certain things about the Holocaust that should be taboo. This is especially true for Jews, for whom the Holocaust is still a deeply painful memory. It is vulgar and offensive for anybody to use the death of six million Jews and millions of others in the Holocaust to make a joke, but this is especially true for someone who is Jewish and who proudly and publicly wears her Jewishness on her sleeve."

Klum was not the only celebrity whose appearance was slammed by Rivers recently. She criticized Adele's weight on "Late Show with David Letterman" on Wednesday, February 27, saying, "What is her song? Rolling in the Deep? She should add Fried Chicken."